The West Yorkshire town of Huddersfield is situated at the convergence of the rivers Colne and Holme. Inhabitants of these river valleys discovered that the water – which flows from the Millstone Grit Pennine hills – gave excellent results for the washing of raw wool.

And so the wool textile industry was born. The industry was traditionally cottage based, with spinning and weaving often taking place in the same dwelling. Many of the workers operated from smallholdings, supplementing their income with the manufacturing of wool textiles. The finished cloth they produced was then sold through merchants who regularly attended the town’s Cloth Hall. But then came the industrial revolution of the 19th Century, bringing with it great change and unrest to these valleys as the wool textile industry became mill based and mechanised.

Every tailor is interested in the quality of the fabric they sell. The quality of the raw material partly determines both the type of the fabric and the quality of the finished cloth. The cloth is made by interlacing yarns in a definite order, and it is, therefore, the type and quality of the yarns which are of importance in considering the value of the cloth from the standpoint of its future use. To put the matter in a simple form: a woven fabric is a structure of interlaced yarns, and yarns are composed of fibres. The quality of the yarn is, therefore, our next consideration. For convenience, the factors which modify the quality of yarns may be classified as follows;

The nature and type of raw material.
The method of spinning the raw material.
The numbers of turns per inch, or twist put into the yarn.
The folding or ply of the yarns.
Special treatments applied to the yarns.

Let us consider the above points in more detail.

1. Type of raw material

In practice the nature of the raw material determines not only the method of preparation and spinning of the yarn, but also the future use of the yarn. Thus long wools such as Lincoln and Leicester are spun for lustres, whereas botany/merino is spun into yarns for soft goods.

2. Method of spinning

Very different results may be obtained from the same raw material according to the way the yarn is prepared and spun. For example, merino wool may be spun into a woollen or a worsted yarn, and the two yarns are quite different in appearance, handling and other properties. The worsted yarn will be smooth and compact, whereas the woollen yarn, although made of the same raw material, will be soft full and somewhat irregular.

3. The Twist

By varying the twist, or turns per inch of the yarn, the handle of the cloth may be changed. In any case the yarn must be given sufficient twist to hold the fibres together firmly. Warp yarns are given more twist than weft yarns to enable them to withstand the strain during the weaving process. Weft yarns require very little twist because there is very little tension on them during weaving. Yarns which have been given an undue amount of twist are liable to give the cloth a harsh handle. In cheviots a very soft twist is employed, so that the finished cloth has a full, soft handle, and a rough surface.

4. Fold of yarns

Yarns may be single, two fold, three fold or for special purposes many fold. Folded yarns are used instead of single yarns for many reasons; (a) add strength; (b) add weight; (c) give a special handle or appearance; and (d) produce fancy effects.

5. Special treatments

Yarns are sometimes subjected to special treatments in order to produce novelty effects, or to obtain a particular result. For instance, certain classes of worsted yarns are genapped, that is, they are made clean and smooth by being passed through a gas flame. Sometimes a surface heated to a white heat is used for removing the projecting fibre ends from the yarn. This is also known as singeing or gassing.

Woollen and worsted

It is common knowledge that wool is spun into two distinct types of yarns, worsted and woollen. The differences in these two yarns are mainly due to two factors; (1) the nature or class of wool used; and (2) the method of preparing.